Midnight Angel by Carly Phillips

so wise?” she asked John.
    “About the time I realized we were over.”
His lips pulled into a thin tight line.
    She had to bite the inside of her cheek to
keep from apologizing again. “What about you?” She asked. “Are you
going to be okay?”
    He nodded with certainty. “I definitely saw
this coming. I’ve been thinking about moving to Boston,” he said,
surprising her.
    “Really?”
    “Yep. There’s more of a social life there,
and since I do want to settle down with the right person, I need
more exposure.”
    “I think the women in the city had better
watch out,” she said, laughing.
    He winked at her, assuring her that he
really was going to be just fine.
    Would she? Her heart caught in her chest
because she realized she
would
miss him as her friend. “I
admire you for making the decision and going after what you want in
life.”
    He brushed a kiss on her cheek. “I’d like to
be able to say the same thing about you. Think about what I just
said, Holly.”
    She forced a smile. “I will.”
    In the coming days, with Dylan gone, she’d
have plenty of time to focus on her life and make a decision about
whether she was ready to put her heart on the line again. Or
whether she could live with herself if she chose not to even
try.
    * * *
    Three days passed in which Holly kept busy.
She saw patients and readied the office for her new partner. She’d
been using the extra room for personal storage, and she needed to
clear her things out before the first of the year, when Dr.
Tollgate started working. After tackling the boxes and moving them
into her own office, she began dusting the bookshelves and desk.
She found that keeping busy also helped her think. Office cleaning
was akin to clearing her mind and facing what she needed and wanted
out of life. What she wanted from Dylan.
    He had called her two or three times a day
since he’d been gone, testament to his desire to prove he’d
changed. That he wasn’t leaving her behind—if not without a
thought, then without another word for ten years. She didn’t know
what more he had in mind for them, but she understood that she had
to come to terms with her own feelings before he returned.
    She shook her head. Her feelings weren’t the
issue. She loved Dylan. The problem lay with her insecurity. John
had called her on it, and she knew he was right.
    The door chimes startled her. Wondering if
there was an emergency, she headed for the outer room to see who
was there. She opened the door, looked around but saw no one. She
was about to go back inside when she glanced down. A large manila
envelope sat at her door. Inside was a map, a set of directions to
what appeared to be someplace about half an hour outside of town
and a note. In Dylan’s handwriting.
    Heart pounding, she stepped back into the
office so she could read the letter to herself aloud. “I promised
I’d be back, and here I am.” She licked her dry lips before
continuing. “I can’t change the past, but I hope to alter the
future. Stop running and meet me. If you dare.”
    If she dared. She shook her head, laughing
and trembling at the same time. Leave it to Dylan to challenge her
in the most basic way.
    It was simple really. Either she trusted or
she didn’t. Melanie’s fake announcement and her own reaction to it
had proven to Holly that she believed in him. Now it was time to
question whether she trusted
herself
.
    Before now she’d never have pegged herself
as an insecure person. Yet she was forced to admit that when it
came to men and relationships, she was a complete weenie, and those
insecurities dated back to Dylan’s departure ten years ago. After
he left, she had thrown herself into her studies. Once she’d
recovered and started dating again, she’d chosen safe men, none of
whom affected her emotions and none of whom gave her that sexual
zing she felt with Dylan. They were all good, decent men but posed
no threat to her heart.
    But now Dylan was back, and he was
definitely a threat,